- Football has been a habit of throwing up surprising moves during the transfer window periods, especially at the last hour.
- Lionel Messi has completed his move to Paris Saint-Germain after signing a two-year contract.
- Cristiano Ronaldo completed a sensational return to Manchester United.
Perth (Chindwin) 08th September: This summer transfer window has been one of the most theatrical events of half a century. We are seeing the two football megastars who have been dominating world football for the past 15 years and sharing a total of 11 Ballon d’Or between them, making switches.
In the first transfer Lionel Messi, who is regarded by many as the best player of all time, grabbed the global headline when he suddenly moved to Paris Saint-German. Messi, who joined Barcelona at 13 years old and spent almost 21 years of his career with the club, switched to the French side as a free agent.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner was expected to extend his contract with his boyhood club but surprisingly signed a two-year deal with the French side instead. When announcing his departure from the Spanish club during the press conference, Messi was very emotional and said: “he had done everything he could from his side to extend the contract”, but could not do so.
According to Forbes’ reports, Messi’ contract with PSG is until 2023 with the option for an extra year and would earn him about $41 million annual net salaries, including bonuses. Besides, he would also be making a cut of player rights, including jersey sales. That will be a significant amount as PSG claims to have sold 150,000 jerseys within seven minutes and a total of 830,000 jerseys in the first 24 hours of his signing being announced.
Messi is wearing number 30 on his jersey at PSG, which he wore when he debuted Barcelona senior side. Messi has scored 672 goals in 778 appearances for the Spanish club, winning 34 titles, including 10 La Liga and 4 Champion league. He made his debut for PSG on 30th August in a game against Reims, coming on as a substitute.
On the other side, Cristiano Ronaldo has also returned to Manchester United from Juventus after playing at Juventus for the last three seasons. The CR7 made his name in world football when he played for Manchester United between 2003 – 2009. He has played a total of 292 games for United scoring 118 goals and winning several titles, including a champion league, before moving to Real Madrid in 2009.
Ronaldo has taken over the No. 7 shirt from Edison Cavani and, as per Sportac reportedly going to earn around 510,000 Pounds a week at the Theatre of Dreams, making him the highest-paid player in the English topflight. United has secured the veteran ex-Real Madrid and Juventus forward on a two-year contract, with the option of an additional year. The English club has reached an agreement with Juventus for an initial € 15 m, which could later be increased by € 8m.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner trained Tuesday with his new teammates for the first time. Many will be interested in seeing his debut this weekend, where he could make his second Premier League debut – after nearly 12 years at his last spell against Newcastle United in April 2009.
